COLUMNIST GAIL MAGGI: Real Men Don’t Dust
What is it about menfolk? They can be so meticulous about some things and totally without a clue about others. Or is it that they just ignore something they really don?t want to do?
Sometimes I am puzzled by their behavior. Since I work and Hubby is retired we have undergone some extensive adjustments to our responsibilities and work in the home. All the years he worked and I stayed home with the kids, I did everything there was to do around the home: cooking, laundry, cleaning, housework, exterior work, gardening, lawn cutting, everything.
Now that I work and he stays home, it was quite a shock for him to realize that I could not continue to wait on him and still hold down a job.
Well, to make the long story short, Hubby has begun to take over many of the household chores such as laundry, and most of the cleaning, and some…actually very little…of the cooking.
Anyway, because at times we need to have the house looking especially nice for one reason or other, Hubby makes the supreme effort to make it look good.
THIS WEEKEND was one of those times, so Hubby has been cleaning the floors, something he always has done anyway, as vacuuming has always flared up a bad back problem in my body. Anyway, he cleaned up all the first floor floors, and then vacuumed the area rugs and promptly began an insane quest to keep our dog out of the other areas of the house and only allow him to stay in the kitchen.
That is until after Monday when a man is supposed to come and look at our house. Well, you?d think the dog understands these multiple commands, right?
?Tanzer, I told you to stay only in the kitchen!? Hubby commands, as the poor dog hangs his head sulking with ears down to the floor as he goes back out to the kitchen. He doesn?t understand this is only for a few days, and thinks he has done something terribly wrong, I?m sure.
Yet Hubby is persistent and runs him back into the kitchen every time he heads for under the dining room table or family room. ?Wouldn?t it be better to just do a quick vacuuming again before the guy comes on Monday?? I ask Hubby.
?OH, SURE, you?re not the one who has to slave and work all day cleaning up this place. That?s hard work, you know,? he says defensively. ?Hmmmn…isn?t that what I?ve done for the past 27 years?? I ask walking away from what I know will be a barrage of wailing and ?woe is me? talk. A little later, Hubby announced he had completed cleaning the lower bathroom and nobody should use it until after Monday. ?What? You mean I should run all the way upstairs if I have to go to the bathroom?? I complained.
?Hey, I cleaned it all up, and I don’t want to have to do it again before Monday!? he said indignantly. ?Oh, by the way, it?s all done except you need to clean the toilet.? I really kept my mouth shut and decided to see what he had done in the bathroom that was so great it couldn?t be used until after Monday.
THE FLOOR was spotless and the toilet needed cleaning…but so did the mirror, the sink, the shelf with knickknacks, and the wall decorations which were full of dus
Then I began to think about how he takes out the garbage each week, and purposely leaves the receptacles without new garbage bags or liners. Hubby does the dishes but leaves the them in the dishwasher, claiming I should empty it. But the one I really found hard to take was when I finally got home from work late, with only a half hour before I had to go out the door again to another meeting or assignment, and as I walk in the door he said, ?Hi honey, what?s for dinner??
?How about roast fillet of Hubby??
I think that was the only time I heard both dogs snicker and the parakeet whistle in appreciation of my comments.
